On tap at Mondo in Sonoma. Poured into a pint glass. No abv is listed. Described on the beer menu as an American style pale ale.

A-Pours a very clear amber with a one finger off white head that has some decent staying power.

S-A nice mix of toasted pale malt, grapefruit, and floral hops. It reminds me in a lot of ways of a fresh hopped Cascade pale ale.

T-The taste mimics the nose. It has a really nice toasted pale malt base that gives it a nice level of sweetness. There is plenty of grapefruit and earthy hop flavor as well. The hops result in a pleasing level of bitterness.

M-Medium bodied and well carbonated.

D-A nice hoppy pale ale. It was quite sessionable and the pint went fast.

Looks like this is a new offering from Moonlight. A solid pale ale that is well hopped.

On tap @ Beachwood BBQ (Seal Beach, CA) on 3/20/10. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a slightly hazy copper, with a thin covering of bright-white head. This retains pretty well, throwing some light spotty lacing up on the sides of the glass. The aroma is floral and citric in the nose, with a solid backing of toasted sweetness. Nice evenness present here between the hops and malt.

The taste is VERY aggressive with the hops. Spice, pine, and bitter fruit just rock the palate up front, with the bready sweetness of the pale malts barely keeping things in check. There's an intense finish on this as well, with tons of lingering dryness and bitterness hanging back. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with sharpness to the carbonation which matches that hop profile. There is also an oily slickness to the body which helps add some smoothness to the feel but overall, this is mostly crisp and sharp in the mouth.

Wow, calling this an APA is an understatement, as this brought more American hop attitude than a lot of IPAs that I've had. While I enjoyed it's aggressiveness for the most part, the extreme bitterness of this was starting to get a little fatiguing by the time that I got to the bottom of the glass. Luckily this remained crisp and quaffable enough to ensure that it didn't happen sooner. Hop heads should love this one.

The beer pours a peachy orange amber color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is likewise fairly attractive, consisting of dry orange rind, grapefruit, light sweet malt and a hint of grain. The nose replicates the nose pretty closely in this dry, hoppy pale ale. The hoppy bitterness really bites in the finish with this beer, though the sweet malt still holds its own pretty well. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a long, very hoppy/bitter finish. Drinkability is OK, and you can tell the alcohol is pretty low in this dry style pale ale.

While I'm not sure I would call this pale ale outstanding, it still delivered plenty of flavor on a dry, hoppy frame. Not bad...

Moonlight can make even an American Pale Ale a unique treat. Misspent Youth has the requisite APA elements -- light caramel malt and American hop aroma -- but combines them in a way you've never had before.

Light golden amber pour with an average coupla centimeter head. First sniff is an exceptionally balanced portfolio of hops. American citrus hops are prominent, but never astringent. Hops resins are detectable, but only as part of a bowl of light flowers and fruits. The malt essentially gets out of the way, providing a lighter-side-of-medium body with a little caramel sweetness to act as a backbone for the bouquet. Bitterness is in check -- just enough to get you ready for the next sip.

A: Pours a pale but rich copper-amber color, slightly hazy, with a finger of fluffy white head. Good lacing.

S: Grassy, bitter hops are most prevalent here, with a smattering of citrus hop flavors (grapefruit, orange, a little pineapple) adding sweetness and depth. Not much malt presence, but the sweet fruit flavors provide some balance.

T: Hop-forward once again, with the same kind of balance distribution as in the smell– heavily skewed towards bitterness, which I was fine with. Floral flavors come in on the finish. The first sip of this with a clear palate was really amazing, but I think as bitterness accumulated it became more difficult to fully appreciate the complexity.

M: Medium-bodied, with high carbonation lending a creaminess that slowed down my drinking of it a bit. Long, dry finish.

O: I had two glasses of this and although near the end I wasn't enjoying it quite as much, I still highly recommend picking it up if you see it (just as you should for any Moonlight beer).

On tap at Gourmet Haus Staudt. I've heard that this beer contains second use fresh hops; they were first used in 2010 Homegrown for dry hopping, and then later used in this beer for bittering.

Copper colored with a little haziness, this is pretty dark for a pale ale. The head is dense and lasting.

The nose is a mix of resiny, earthy, leafy hops and caramelized malt. It's not a terribly bold aroma, but it's clean and fairly enjoyable.

This is one extremely bitter pale ale, it tastes like the wort was boiled for an unusually long period of time. The malt backbone is very caramelized, though I can pick up little sweetness beyond the abrasive bitterness. There's plenty of hop flavor, too; leafy and herbal, earthy, resiny, fairly British in character though far more bitter than anything the Brits would make.

This is a tough one to rate. It goes down easily enough, I enjoyed my pint and it's very clean, but it's not constructed in a way that appeals to me much.